PR-Last Ditch Racing Takes Podium at 100 Acre Wood Regional Rally!
For Immediate Release
March 3, 2010
Bangor, Maine USA
Maine's Last Ditch Racing had a mixed weekend at the recent 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri, ultimately claiming third overall of sixteen regional entrants and third in Open Class in Saturday's 100 Acre Wood Regional Rally.
The 100 Acre Wood Rally, round 2 of the Rally America 2010 National Championship, also comprised the Regional Rally Championship. As 2009 Eastern Region Open Class Champions, the team had come down to race again other regional champions in an attempt to take overall honors. The woods of Missouri had other plans for the team, however.
Friday's event was eventful, but not in a positive way. A slight off early on SS2 rattled Cassidy and Co-driver Adam Kneiip, and then halfway through the stage the team's exhaust manifold on their 2003 Subaru STi fractured, causing hot exhaust gases to blow onto components in the engine compartment. "In addition to not having any power due to lack of boost, we started to see smoke and smell burning rubber," said driver John Cassidy. "We were forced to make the decision to retire from Friday's event in order to save the car and ensure we'd be able to compete in Saturday's event."
Friday night saw the crew of fellow competitor Dillon Van Way weld up the team's header. As it was the second such failure in the same manifold in a couple of weeks, the team did not trust that it would hold and looked for an alternative. A local media person and Subaru enthusiast soon heard that the team was searching for a manifold and met the team at their hotel with the replacement. New part in hand, the crew replaced it in the early hours of the Saturday morning and the team were ready for Saturday's stages.
Morning came with the crew feeling fresh and confident in the car. The first stage saw Cassidy and co-driver Adam Kneiip continue to acclimate to each other's styles. At a low water bridge on the second stage, a slip joint in the exhaust system separated, creating worry in the car that they had another serious exhaust system failure. "Even with our noise canceling intercom, it was incredibly loud and I thought we had another hole on our hands. Driving a bit further on, I realized that, despite the noise, we still had full power and all systems were go."
Saturday saw the team chasing fellow Open Class crews of Henry/Cindy Krowlikowski in their ex-Prodrive Subaru and Chris Gilligan/Joe Peterson in their EVO 4. Said Cassidy, "I wish we could have pushed Henry and Chris a bit more, but we did all we could with the car we had. We'll continue to work hard to increase the performance of the car on our next outing!"
The 100 Acre Wood Rally saw Colorado co-driver Adam Kneipp sit with Cassidy for the first time. "It was obvious from the first time that we talked over the phone that Adam is meticulous and goal oriented. Adam slotted into the car and team seamlessly. We had a great weekend overall and perhaps we'll be able to get him back into the car later in the season."
The Last Ditch Racing crew were highly regarded in the service area at the event, and Cassidy/Kneipp want to thank them publicly. Drew Simpson, Zachary Sennett and Drew Gladu swarmed on the car each service and worked into the morning hours making sure that everything was perfect for Cassidy/Kneipp. "This event saw the crew really coalesce. I was amazed by the ownership and assertiveness the lads showed this weekend. Their strong work allowed Adam and I to maintain our focus on the race and developing our relationship within the car. Our helmets' are off to them!," said Cassidy.
Last Ditch Racing would also like to thank the Organizers for a fantastic event, as well as the fans/residents of Salem and Rolla, Missouri and all the towns the event travelled through. "The people of Missouri are some of the friendliest folks we've met in rallying and we felt right at home in Missouri. Maine feels a bit like Missouri, but without the awesome BBQ!"
2010 sees LDR with several new partners. LDR has partnered with VP Racing Fuels in the Northeast to run the new 109e race fuel. "We've run VP in the past, but rule changes meant we had to switch to another brand. Now that VP has come out with a newly formulated fuel, we're able to use our preferred brand. We'll soon be remapping our ECU to take advantage of the new fuel." Kartboy products, maker of short shifters, shift knobs, swaybar links and other performance oriented parts is also stepping up support this season. "We've run Kartboy decals on the car in the past, but now they're bigger! Kartboy makes products in the USA that are second-to-none in quality and performance. We'd only consider Kartboy for our mission critical suspension and driver interface parts."
Luke Dobie, of Luke Dobie Designs worked with California graphic artist Craig Woida to create a graphic design for Cassidy's Peltor helmet for 2010. "Luke has been doing custom paint at the pro level for some time. When he approached me about putting custom paint on my helmet, I jumped at the chance. Between he, Craig and I, we came with a design in short order and Luke made it happen incredibly quickly, even hand delivering the helmet to me here in Maine." Openpaddock.net is an online motorsport news clearinghouse and community. LDR has partnered with Openpaddock for 2010 to help share some insight with fans into what it takes to field a rally team. Cassidy has appeared as a guest on two Openpaddock podcasts to discuss rallying in the US as well as share his thoughts on the WRC as a rally fan and driver.
Last Ditch Racing would like to thank their 2010 Partners for their support:
VP Racing fuels. http://www.vpracingfuels.com
Kartboy, http://www.kartboy.com
Triple Caution, LLC, http://www.triplecaution.us
Team O'Neil Rally School, http://www.teamoneil.com
Luke Dobie Designs, http://www.lukedobiedesigns.com/
32North.com, http://www.32north.com/
Openpaddock.net, http://www.openpaddock.net
To view the Rally-America official highlight video, please visit, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8VnxwTu4OY
For more information on Last Ditch Racing, please visit: http://www.lastditchracing.com
Social Networking: Please search for us on Facebook and Myspace.
To follow us on Twitter, please visit: http://www.twitter.com/lastditchracing
Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LastDitchRacing
To Purchase Last Ditch Racing Gear, please visit: http://www.cafepress.com/lastditchracing
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PR-Last Ditch Racing Pulls Themselves into Top 10 at Rallye Defi
Thu, 09/16/2010 - 20:23 — LastDitchFor Immediate Release
September 14, 2010
Bangor, Maine USA
Maine's Last Ditch Racing, consisting of Driver John Cassidy and Co-Driver Dave Getchell, overcame significant adversity to crack the top 10 at the Rallye Defi in St. Agathe, Quebec Canada this past weekend. Finishing 10th of 36 starters was not as easy a task as they had initially hoped.
The fourth round of the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship, the event is held in the Laurentian Mountains near scenic Mont Tremblant. Cassidy last competed in Canada at the 2008 Rallye Defi with guest Co-Driver Jennifer Daley. "We had a very difficult event in 2008 and suffered a DNF due to max lateness after having a tank full of contaminated fuel," said Cassidy.
Cassidy and Getchell headed North without their usual complement of crew. "The new laws requires we have passports to travel to Canada, and our current crew are all new since 2008, so were without the proper documentation to join us." Given how active the team is in social networking, offers of help in service came in by cell and internet. "Harry Boucher volunteered to help us and we would have been quite a bit more stressed without his calm presence in the service park-our hats/helmets are off to him!"
Day one saw the crew tackle the new Montcalm stage, run twice. A new, technical stage, Montcalm proved to set the tone for the event for many crews. "While not setting a blistering pace on Montcalm, we were still in the thick of things and feeling out the car and the recent changes we'd made to it." said Cassidy. On the second run through the Lac Brunet stage, the team sheared the teeth off first gear in the transmission. "I launched a bit too aggressively on the pavement and the tranny just couldn't take it," said Cassidy. Limping back to service without first gear, the crew drained all the large metal chunks out of the transmission, filled it with fresh fluid and pressed on.
"It's the third time we've lost a gear in our 11 years in the sport, so it didn't throw us too much. We don't carry a spare transmission on the truck, so just had to roll with it. Dave and I discussed it and decided if we had all the other gears, we'd soldier on as best we could. Unfortunately most of the stage starts are uphill at Defi, so it made for a somewhat slower weekend than we expected."
Day two arrived with Getchell and Cassidy acting as their own service crew and getting the car to the service park in Montpelier, an hour or so away from St. Agathe. After reversing the car off the trailer, Cassidy was unable to get the transmission into any gear. Realizing the tenuous nature of their drivetrain, they were about to concede defeat and withdraw from the event, but friend Iain Fraser of Planet Motorsport used a bit of Scottish persuasion to get the transmission unstuck. Game on! Cassidy/Getchell headed to the stages to have a go.
"The stages at Defi were very short this year, and Dave and I knew we'd be loosing time off the line of every stage without first gear. We'd try our best to make up that loss on stage, but also knew it would be near impossible." As if the challenges weren't already enough, stage 2 on Saturday saw the battery in the intercom die, leaving Getchell to yell at Cassidy for most of the stage. Managing two top 10 stage times during the day and driving quick and tidy, the team fulfilled their goal of finishing in the top 10. "Starting each stage in second gear was painful. Dave was counting the seconds before we'd finally hit a speed where we'd get boost-once we did, it was like someone lit a rocket. On a 4-5km stage, 8-10 seconds is a huge deficit."
Cassidy and Getchell were impressed with the depth and talent of the competition in Canada. "Everyone's getting faster. The quality of the cars and crews is the best we've seen in some time." Last Ditch Racing is working to put together a challenge for the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship if they can arrange sufficient support. The team is hoping to attend the Rallye Perce-Neige in Maniwaki to kick off their 2011 season.
Last Ditch Racing would like to thank their 2010 Partners for their continued support:
VP Racing fuels, http://www.vpracingfuels.com
DTECH Motorsport, http://www.dtechmotorsport.com
Kartboy, http://www.kartboy.com
Triple Caution, LLC, http://www.triplecaution.us
Luke Dobie Designs, http://www.lukedobiedesigns.com/
Openpaddock.net, http://www.openpaddock.net
Special thanks to Harry Boucher and Iain Fraser for their support on event at Rallye Defi!
For more information on Rallye Defi, please visit: http://www.rallyedefi.com/
For more information on Last Ditch Racing, please visit: http://www.lastditchracing.com
Social Networking: Search for us on Facebook and Myspace.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lastditchracing
LDR's Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LastDitchRacing
To Purchase Last Ditch Racing Gear, please visit: http://www.cafepress.com/lastditchracing
Photos Copyright Andrew Harvey, 2011, http://www.andrewharvey.ca/